Process of manufacturing snuff tablets.



NlTED STATES IVILLIAM LOFLAND DUDLEY,

OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING SNUFF TABLETS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,366, dated December19, 18 99. Application filed April 26, 1899. $erial No. 714,568. (Nospecimens.)

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM LOFLAND DUDLEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Nashville, in the county of Davidson and State ofTennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inProcesses for the Manufacture of Snufi Tablets; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itrelates to make and use the same.

My invention contemplates the manufacture of snuff in tablet or lozengeform, presenting to the dealer, and particularly to the consumer, a moreconvenient and satisfac-. tory article than anything of similar natureheretofore produced or known to the trade.

A snuff tablet of this character has long been a desideratum of snuffand tobacco manufacturers, dealers, and consumers, chiefly because ofthe great convenience to be thereby afforded the latter class inpartaking of the article and in readily apportioning the quantity used.

Previous attempts to manufacture snuff in tablet form have utterlyfailed, owing to the supposed necessity of employing a foreign bindingagent in the process of manufacture, which invariably has impaired theflavor and odor of the resulting compound or rendered the tablets hardand dry.

By my invention I overcome the aforesaid difficulties and produce anunadulterated snuff tablet, the excellence and flavor whereof dependsolely upon the quality of tobacco used as a basis of manufacture andcare with which the several steps of my improved process are carriedout.

Those skilled in the manufacture of snuff are aware that in thepreparation thereof the tobacco is first subjected to a longer period offermentation than is necessary for other tobacco products, is flavored,subjected to extreme heat in the drying or cooking process, then ground,and finally stored and subjected to a final sweating process before itis ready for the market.

in the manufacture of snuff impart to it certain characteristics whichdifferentiate it from other forms of manufactured tobacco and renderit'liable to be impaired by subse- These several steps 1 quenttreatment, which would be innocuous when applied to smoking or chewingtobaccos.

My invention, which takes into consideration the peculiarities andcharacteristics of the snuff to be treated, avoids the use of a binderand employs only a neutral fluid, such as water or alcohol,which may becompletely eliminated in the final steps of the process without changeor deterioration in the ardry to permit rubbing same through afinesieve, (about No. 16, for example,) the purpose of this step in theprocess being to granulate the snuff. lVhen thus granulated, the mass issubjected to a moderate degree of heat (approximating 140 Fahrenheit)until the added water has been driven off or evaporated and thegranulated snuff reduced to its original consistency, and, finally, theproduct, obtained substantially as aforesaid, is compressed by anyapproved means into tablets of predetermined dimensions and weight.

The proportions above enumerated have been found to produce resultswhich are highly satisfactory, although they may be varied withincertain limits without departing from the spirit of my invention, sothat I do not confine myself to the precise and unvarying proportions ordegrees of heat above mentioned. It. is, however, important, first, thatthe snuff employed be duly moistened by the addition of a neutral fluidor one which will in no wise impair its natural flavor or odor for thepurpose of converting same from a powdered to. a molecular condition;seeondly, it should be rubbed through a sieve of 1 suitable gage for thepurpose of thorough granulation in order to insure cohesion when finallypressed into tablets thirdly, the snuff IOO heated, as in this case theproduct would be powdery and harsh to the mouth of the consumer, and,fourthly, and as a final step, the granulateddried body of snuff iscompressed in tablet form by any approved means, in which form it isretained by the natural cohesion of its granular particles Without theuse of a special binding agent. The tablet thus produced Will have anouter or protect ive shell or surface and an interior or body ofgranular character, so that when the tablet is crushed the resultantmass Will have thegranular form into which it has been converted duringthe process and before compression in contradistinetion to the smoothsnuff flour of commerce.

The snuff tablet itself forms the subjectmatter of my application SerialNo. 730,380, pending simultaneously herewith, the same being adivisional application filed September 13, 1899.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

The method herein described for forming compressed snuff tablets, whichconsists in first reducing the snuff to a molecular mass by means of asmall percentage of water or other neutral fluid, second, granulatingthe same by passing it through a sieve, then depriving the granular massof the added fluid by subjecting it to a moderate degree of heat, andfinally compressing the granulated snuff into tablets, substantially asand for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses,this 20th day of April, 1899.

VVILLI AM LOFLAN D DUDLEY.

\Vitnesses:

A. B. HILL,

Gno. I. WADDEY.

